National Grid to site biggest substation on Teesside, near planned AI datacentre

New electricity generating capacity would enable north-east to attract investment for major datacentre projects

National Grid has taken a step towards building Britain’s biggest electricity substation on Teesside, which could supply power to a vast neighbouring datacentre, as the UK races to expand its AI infrastructure.

Last week the company agreed to purchase 73 acres of land at Dorman Point on a site owned by Teesworks, a local private-public partnership. The deal was first reported by Sky News.

The deal follows reports last year that the UK government had picked Teesworks as the site for a new artificial intelligence datacentre, and planning applications had been submitted for a project of nearly 500,000 sq metres.